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A pretty little castle

We love Disney in our house. My little girl watches the films regularly. Just before Christmas we bought Cinderella and inside was a leaflet advertising this castle. I decided then that I would get ot for my daughter for Christmas. The castle is available in Toys R Us for £39.99 inside the box you also get two Princess figures Snow White and Cinderella.

Separately for around £8 you can also get 4 different figure sets; Cinderella and Prince Charming, Belle and the Beast, Aurora and Ariel and Rapunzel and Tianna. You can also get two carriages a Cinderella pumpkin coah which comes with a Cinderella figure and a Little Mermaid coach which comea with Ariel and Eric, these retail as around £30.

As it was Christmas my daughter ended up receiving the whole collection from various relatives.

The castle needs to be built. It is relatviely easy to put together there are also a few screws so you will need a screwdriver. Batteries are not included in the castle so you need to get these separately 3 x AAA. Once the castle is put together it is robust. The plastic is good quality.

The castle consists of a base and two towers, on the left hand side there is a lift and three floors, the first floor is a living room which has slots for the figures to stand, the next floor has a mirror and a slot for a Princess. The final level on the left is a balcony. Each level has a window. The right hand side of the castle has a slightly smaller tower which only has two levels. The ground floor is a kitchen with a stove and oven. The next level up is a bedroom which has a removable bed that sleep two figures. In the middle of the castle there is an upper floor with a star and fountain from The Princess and the Frog and finally the uper level which is the attic from Cinderella.

The lower level of the castle is a dance floor which leads to double doors out of the castle.

The castle can be played with both ways. The front of the castle is bright pink and purple and has a clock which moves. There are also steps leading to the double doors which can be opened from both sides. There are stickers over the castle which show characters and scenes from various films.

The castle makes several sounds. Firstly when the double doors are open a fanfare sounds. There is also a kettle on the stove which when pressed makes a bird noise and animal sounds from the Snow White film. The dance floor moves it has two slots for princesses to dance. When the dance floor is moved it plays a song. Finally in the centre of the dance floor is a magic slot which when the princesses are placed on a pressed down they sing and say various sentences. Each princess says 3 sentences from the film and also sings a short rendition of a song from their film.The voices are realistic I was very impressed. The songs are recognisable. The princes that you get don't sing when places on the spot instead they just play a little jingle.

The castle has two volumes we have it on the lowest setting.

The figures that come with the castle look like the Disney characters but are in the style of other little people figures. They are the right size for little hands. The age range for the castle is 18 months to 5 years.

You also get with the castle a banquet table and two chairs.

On Christmas morning my daughter was thrilled to see this, I had already built it the night before. Immediately she picked up the characters and told me their names. She was able to work the castle with ease and had no problem getting the princesses to speak. Since Christmas this has been played with regularly I have to admit I like playing with it too being a huge Disney fan.

The castle is a lovely toy and as my daughter plays with it more I can see her interacting with the characters and moving them around the castle. The batteries are still going strong even with regular use.

This castle is one of my daughters favourite toys and it is something we can play with together but she can also play with alone. 5 out of 5 from us.